Biden and Trump Return to Campaign Trail after Spar at Presidential Town Hall

President Donald Trump, who received treatment for several days at a military hospital after he contracted the virus two weeks ago, has since returned to headlining massive campaign rallies.

During his town hall on NBC in front of voters in Miami, Trump declined to say when he last tested negative for the virus before announcing his diagnosis, a question that White House physicians have also refused to answer.

While he denounced white supremacists two weeks after failing to do so forcefully at the first presidential debate, he would not do the same about QAnon, a fringe movement whose adherents believe Democrats are part of a global pedophilia ring.

Read also: QAnon Conspiracy Theory Finds Global Popularity during Pandemic

"I do know they are against pedophilia, they fight it very hard," Trump said, before claiming he knew nothing about the conspiracy theory when pressed by Guthrie.

He also questioned whether masks are effective at stopping the spread of the coronavirus, contradicting the consensus among public health experts, including those in his own administration.

In Philadelphia, Joe Biden outlined to voters his plans to combat the coronavirus pandemic and revive the economy by prioritizing testing, funding local and state governments and hiking taxes dramatically on corporations and the wealthy.

He again deferred when asked whether he supports adding justices to the Supreme Court, an idea known as "court-packing" that some Democrats favor as a response to Republicans' hardball tactics.

"It depends on how this turns out," he said of the ongoing confirmation hearings for Trump's latest nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

Read also: Amy Coney Barrett to Face Tough Second Day of Supreme Court Hearing

But the coronavirus dominated the proceedings, just as it has loomed over the last seven months of the campaign.

The US President, who has downplayed the crisis, again said on Thursday that the country has "rounded the corner", despite surges in cases in many states.

He also defended his own personal approach to the virus, including hosting a Rose Garden event last month after which multiple attendees, including himself, tested positive.

Joe Biden's campaign said on Thursday that three people who recently traveled with him or his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, had tested positive.

Read also: President Donald Trump Touts Kamala Harris Birther Theory

Neither candidate had close contact with the infected individuals, the campaign said, but Harris canceled her in-person events through Sunday as a precaution.

The third presidential debate is scheduled for October 22.

(Writers: Joseph Ax, Michael Martina, Steve Holland | Editors: Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis)

Source: https://ca.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-idCAKBN2710JC